Blogger-Podcaster Erik Fogg Reviews Dr. Bob Rich's Hit and Run

Title: Hit and Run
Author: Dr. Bob Rich
Genre: Inspirational/Paranormal
ISBN: 978-1-925191-48-6
Purchase

Author's Web site link

Reviewed by Erik Fogg originally for the newsletter Bobbing Around

Hit and Run starts with a mad punch right to the gut, reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange in how absurdly surreal — yet strangely compelling — it is. But then it takes a wildly unexpected turn.

Instead, it is a book about questioning the very nature of good and evil. To what extent are we good or evil by nature, by nurture, or by choice? And then one begins to question the nature of evil at all — are the ‘evil’ merely sick (in the truest sense) and in need of help? Can the sickness that lies in each of us — greater or smaller — be ever cured?

It is a book that shows rather than tells: it grips you in the story and explores its themes using the story rather than by taking breaks to preach at you (think War and Peace as the contrast). It is through seeing absolutely radical human kindness and strength — that we know is within our reach if we cultivate the wisdom and compassion inside ourselves — that we are led to question what we know about good and evil, about justice and retribution, and about the capacity to heal.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Erik is Editor-in-Chief, blogger, and podcaster at ReConsider, where he helps readers and listeners understand politics beyond the soundbites and hype. He co-authored Wedged: How You Became a Tool of the Partisan Political Establishment and How to Start Thinking for Yourself Again. Erik graduated MIT with a Bachelors and Masters in Political Science and now lives in Boston, MA.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hit and Run is Bob’s 17th book. They are all very different from each other. The commonality is high ratings. Over all his publications, there is one 3-star review. Most of the others are 5 stars, with a few 4s. This is because Bob writes with passion, and takes his readers there. You can find lots of entertainment at his writing website http://bobswriting.com and blog https://bobrich18.wordpress.com. His psychology site http://anxietyanddepression-help.com offers inspiration and information regarding every way people make themselves and each other miserable, and his environmental site http://mudsmith.net is, well, about environmental issues Learn more about him:

http://bobswriting.com

Bobbing Around https://bobrich18.wordpress.com

http://bobswriting.com/hitandrun.html

http://bobswriting.com/guardian.html

Commit random acts of kindness

Live simply so you may simply live

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Readers' Favorite Reviewer Gives Browder Novel 5 Stars

Dark Knowledge

by Clifford Browder

Author's blog

Genre: historical fiction, action/adventure

ISBN: 978-1-68114-367-5

Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon originally for Readers' Favorite

5 Stars

Dark Knowledge by Clifford Browder is a historical fiction novel set in New York around the American Civil War era. Dark Knowledge is the story of Chris Harmony and his search for his family’s roots and secrets. Chris is a young man who has always been proud of and inspired by his family that has been in the shipping industry for the last three generations. After Chris’s father passes away, he comes across a chest with old shipping papers that motivate him to research and write about his family’s history, which he had been told was one of glory on the sea. However, as soon as his uncle hears of the plan, he tries to steal the chest. Chris manages to hold on to the chest and with the help of his sister, Sal, starts uncovering a wealth of lies and the ugly reality that his family, for generations, has in fact been involved in the slave trade and human trafficking of African-Americans. This is the story of Chris and his quest for the truth, with many surprises and twists and turns along the way.

I enjoyed reading Dark Knowledge and Clifford Browder definitely managed to recreate the vibe and feel of that era so that I could almost smell the salty sea air and feel myself transported to that period. The characters are very well drawn, and in addition to Chris and Sal, who are fantastic, all of the other family members, former ship captains, etc. also have their own flavor and personalities. Sal is shown to be a smart and capable woman which I appreciated. But most of all, this is Chris’s story and Clifford Browder succeeds in highlighting the horrors of slavery through this book. This is great read!

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clifford Browder is the author of historical novels and nonfiction relating to New York City. His blog is No Place for Normal: New York . He loves this quotation by T. S. Eliot: Humankind cannot bear very much reality.  And he signs his e-mail, "Geezers rock.   C.H. Browder." 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Phyllis Ring Finds Leslie Handler's New Memoir "For the Heart"

• Title:  Rats, Mice and Other Things You Can't Take to the Bank
• Author: Leslie Handler
• Website: LeslieGoesBoom
• Genre: Memoir/Humor/Essay Collection
• ISBN: 0-9994127-3-6 
• Link to Purchase the Book
• Available in paper, e-book
• Twitter:Twitter for Leslie Handler

Reviewed by  Phyllis Ring originally for Amazon

THE REVIEW

Reminds how humor keeps us stronger and kinder

When I begin to think of others with whom I want to share a book, even start ordering copies for them before I’ve finished reading it, I've found a book that serves the heart.

Leslie Handler's warm, transparent -- sometimes fearless -- perspective clears out inner cobwebs like a rush of springtime air. Her writing strikes a welcome balance between humorously forthcoming and gently poignant. I've previously enjoyed essays she publishes as syndicated columns. This collection shines a lovely light on life’s true wealth, the willingness to develop and apply the healing capacities of compassion, fair-mindedness, and kindness, along with fortitude, forbearance, and faith. Faith in grace, in others, and in life itself.

The author has experienced a pretty large serving of difficulties along her path. Her response is, for me, one of the gifts of this book as it reminds of the freedom, and power, of reaching for appreciation, humor, and joy together with honesty that’s not afraid to face life fully. Her willingness, at times, to write from deep vulnerability helps this reader feel a lot better, and hopefully kinder, about being human. There's much sweet wisdom woven in with the observant wit here.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Latest Tweet: Lao Tzu.- https://t.co/LHscIMVPs5 @brightdrops #quotehttps://t.co/XGLBWD2ec6 Read More Leslie Handler Writer/Author A  Internationally Syndicated Columnist, Author, and National Society of Newspaper Columnists Award Winner E les.handler@gmail.com   W LeslieGoesBoom.com   For a free sneak peek at my upcoming book, sign up to follow at LeslieGoesBoom Get your own  email signature

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Michelle Everett Wilbert Reviews Carol Smallwood's "A Matter of Selection"

Title: A Matter of Selection 

Author: Carol Smallwood

Publisher: Poetic Matrix Press, 2018

$17.00 

ISBN: 9780998146980


Reviewed by Michelle Everett Wilbert

Carol Smallwood’s latest volume of poetry, A Matter of Selection, brings into sharp focus her vivid interest in both the natural world and probing observations of the daily—the quotidian mysteries present in any given life when we take time to notice and reflect upon all that we interact with in the course of a day. Ms. Smallwood—a retired librarian and the author of several novels, poetry, children’s books and educational materials for librarians and educators—brings the eye of a scientist, the heart of a mother, and the mind of a mystic to her poems, infusing all of them with a luminous, delicate, yet sturdy sensibility that is a delight to read. The central thesis of this volume seems to be found in the ending of the poem entitled



“There Were Only”:

I lift my face to capture the rain of childhood and failing,

remember the earth is covered mostly with water and we know

less about oceans than the moon—and wonder how much

wonder is lost by knowing. (89)



And to “…wonder how much wonder is lost by knowing” is the right starting point for reading these poems, which I did in short bursts as I went about my day here, attending to the same mundane and life-giving tasks these poems speak to with such gentle precision. There is a curator’s eye to her poems—she’s looking to connect thematic elements in both free form and formal, traditional structures such that individual observations feel grouped as though by hand—one can feel the firmness of a palm and fingers curling around an object and considering where it should be placed to best effect. The four distinct themes explored, Nature, Moments in Time, The Domestic, and Speculations, are introduced in the preface and given an overarching structure in an observation from Octavio Paz: “Poetry is not what words say but what is said between them, that which appears fleetingly in pauses and silences.”

And in this, her poetry takes its shape and form as the interior world is woven with a close observation of nature—of plant, animal and mineral life—as it connects and interacts with the personal and interpersonal, with the contemplation of one’s own existence alongside these many and varied forms of life. In the prologue, the opening poem further settles the thematic focus on the choices—the selections—we make about what we give our attention to and how that shapes an hour, a day, or a life:



We Select

a few—the selections random: a melody, morning fog, a path

knowing with certainty at the time they’ll be ours to the end–

an imprinting sudden, as first love with no thought of aftermath:

a sunset, muffled cry, a Thanksgiving dressing, smile of a friend.

Knowing with certainty at the time they’ll be ours to the end,

They return at unexpected moments, their clarity a surprise:

a sunset, muffled cry, a thanksgiving dressing, smile of a friend

bringing feeling from depths we cannot withhold, disguise.

They return at unexpected moments, their clarity a surprise,

an imprinting sudden as first love with no thought of aftermath

bringing feeling from depth we cannot withhold, disguise:

a few—the selections random: a melody, morning fog, a path.

(7)



These poems are a lovely accompaniment to the daily round; the “poem in the pocket” that offers something to think about while doing tasks that are often done reflexively. The poems belong to the workaday as well as to the esoteric and indeed, they remind us that both coexist symbiotically—much like the Benedictine Rule of “Ora et Labora”—the monastic injunction to “pray and work”–these poems provide a comforting rhythmic undercurrent to the work of hands, hearts and minds. The poetry is deliberate and fluid—the use of repetition ensures that the emotional emphasis is made and made again—a sense of not wanting to forget what matters, as a way, then, of writing a small post-it note into the poem in way that seems so human and relatable—when the repetitions come, one leans in, wanting to pay close attention to what is clearly essential.

This is a fine and riveting work—a volume of poems anyone can appreciate from a literary, emotional and spiritual standpoint. There is no one way to read them, which is probably true of all poetry, but these invite exploration and interpretation in a way that is unusual, especially given the frequent use of traditional forms that can sometimes seem to stifle such reflection. These poems are open-hearted, with a vigorous complexity and generosity of spirit that generates a meditative calm while serving to invigorate the mind while allowing us to “come to our senses” as we read poems that are embodied, human truths and observations that can lead us to recall that we are all one human species, far more alike than different—in these poems, we can find the gentle path towards kinship and connection.



MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Michelle Wilbert is a writer, “poemcatcher” and retired midwife. She works as a music programmer in Ann Arbor, Michigan and lives with her husband on a small homestead near Detroit and together they are the parents of four young adult children. She writes reviews for Mom's Egg Review and this, The New Book Review, thanks her for letting us reprint her review of Poet Carol Smallwood's work. 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Awesome Indies Reviews "Hillbilly Version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

·        

• Title: Rarity from the Hollow
• Author: Robert Eggleton
• Web site link: www.lacydawnadventures.com   
• Genre: Adult Social Science Fiction
• ISBN: 978-1-387-80439-9
• Reviewed originally for Awesome Indies
• Link to purchase the book
• Available in paper, e-book
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/roberteggleton1

Lacy Dawn Hickman is a young girl who lives in an isolated community in the Hollow. She is part of a dysfunctional family; Jenny, a mother who has sacrificed her dreams for her family, and Duane, a father suffering from combat-related PTSD. Lacy’s only friend, Faith, was killed by her abusive father, and her spirit now inhabits trees and rocks around Lacy’s house; trees by the way, that Lacy can communicate with. As you might have surmised at this point, Lacy Dawn is a ‘special’ child. She not only talks to trees, but she communicates with her dog, and has a guardian, a naked alien known only as DotCom, whose mission is to guard and guide Lacy to her destiny—saving the universe.

Rarity From the Hollow by Robert Eggleton is a hillbilly version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, only instead of the earth being destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass, Lacy Dawn must save DotCom’s home planet from in infestation of sentient roaches. At the same time, she must cure her dysfunctional family so that she and her mother no longer have to suffer Duane’s switchings, and no more girls like Faith are bludgeoned to death.

The author has managed to do what I would have thought impossible; taken serious subjects like poverty, ignorance, abuse, and written about them with tongue-in-cheek humor without trivializing them. In fact, the rustic humor and often graphic language employed by Lacy Dawn and her compatriots only serve to highlight their desperate lives, and their essential toughness and resilience.

From the simplistic, almost primitive, art of the cover, to the rough education of the protagonists, Eggleton sucks you into the Hollow, dunks you in the creek, rolls you in the mud, and splays you in the sun to dry off. Tucked between the folds of humor are some profound observations on human nature and modern society that you have to read to appreciate.

There are only a few things to mar an otherwise perfect book. A few places where words are omitted, the fact that characters’ thoughts are not highlighted, and having every character in the Hollow using the term ‘mommy’ rather than the expected ‘ma,’ which was a bit jarring in the early chapters, but by the halfway point was funny. Other than the five or six cases of missing words or typos, it’s a funny book that most sci-fi fans will thoroughly enjoy.

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Five Star "Edge of Your Seat" Review for Psychological Mystery

Title: Pain has a Permanent Address

Author: Andrew Hixson

Genre: Psychological Mystery

Series: The John Handful Mysteries (Book 4)

·         Paperback: 336 pages

·         Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 5, 2017)

·         Author's Website
      Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 1548316946

·         ISBN-13: 978-1548316945

·         Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.8 x 7.8 inches

Available as an e-book

Reviewed originally for Amazon from a Verified Purchase and given five stars

Andrew Hixson is a master storyteller who keeps you on the edge of your seat. This is a powerful story that will keep you out of breath and turning the pages as you help John Handful solve a murder mystery. Chilling and downright scary at times, this novel will keep you in suspense right up to the very end. I highly recommend this book to anyone. 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.